Fragments of Yesterday
by Alaena F. Dragonstar
Summary: When magicians catch colds, it's time for everyone else to duck for cover. Flying glasses are the least of it. [Established KaiShin, set in the Illusions of the Sun universe]
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters.

**Rating**: T

**Pairing**: Established KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi], HakuRan, HeiKazu

**Genre**: Supernatural/Family

**Summary**: When magicians catch colds, it's time for everyone else to duck for cover. Flying glasses are the least of it.

**Important Notes**: This story is set in the same universe as "Illusions of the Sun" and "Diamonds in the Rain". It can be read separately, but it may be easier to follow if you've read Illusions. Chronologically, it would be the third in the series.

* * *

**Fragments of Yesterday**

1: The Beginning

It had started that morning on the way to the grocery store when Kaito noticed Shinichi giving him a look that was somewhere between exasperated disappointment and concern.

"What is it?" he'd asked, confused. He couldn't remember having done anything that could have elicited such a peculiar reaction from his oracle. Nor could he think of anything regarding their errand that might warrant it.

"I told you that you should have worn a coat out yesterday," the smaller boy sighed. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

"…Because it wasn't that cold."

That earned him another of those looks. He didn't much like that look. So he leaned in to plant a quick kiss on Shinichi's nose, making the boy go cross-eyed. Then he looped an arm through Shinichi's and dragged him into the store before he could say any more.

It wasn't until that afternoon that he understood what Shinichi had meant.

"A—a—ah-choo!"

An instant later, the cup Kaito had been drinking out of shot across the room and smashed against the wall, sending water droplets spraying in every direction and leaving a wet stain on the wall and the floor below. Shinichi jumped, the book he'd been reading dropping from his hands and landing on the ground with a loud thud. A crash echoed from the kitchen followed by hurried footsteps.

"What happened?" Chikage asked as she burst into the living room to find her son blinking at his upraised hand like it was supposed to be holding something and Shinichi on his hands and knees, picking up shattered pieces of glass.

"It was just a sneeze," Kaito replied, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about the cup. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Chikage relaxed, smiling faintly. "It's okay. As long as no one was hurt. Hold on Shinichi, let me get the broom. You don't want to cut your hands on that."

"Let me," Kaito cut in. He waved a hand at the glass, and the shards rose in a glittering flock to soar away and into the kitchen trash can.

Chikage gave the trash can a long, thoughtful look before turning back to the boys. "Dinner is ready. Set the table, and I'll get the curry."

They were all seated around the small, kitchen table when Kaito sneezed again. He had the presence of mind to turn away from the food, but that didn't stop the curry from turning bright blue. Shinichi paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth. Chikage hesitated with hers still buried in her bowl. Kaito cursed.

"Damn, sorry about that." He snapped his fingers at the curry.

It changed from bright blue to creamy purple.

The magician's eyebrows twitched. He snapped his fingers again. This time the curry became a soft, cherry blossom pink. It looked kind of like lumpy icing, but it still smelled very much like curry. The contrast was more than a little disconcerting.

"Maybe you should just leave it be," Chikage said gently when Kaito made to try again.

"It still tastes okay," Shinichi added, swallowing the spoonful he'd been holding.

Dinner resumed. And if they were all eating a little faster than normal, no one commented on it. They had just swallowed their last bites of curry when all the water in their cups evaporated in a cloud of steam.

"You can't go to school like this," Chikage said into the ensuing silence. "I'll call them tomorrow morning and let them know you're sick. I can take the day off work."

Kaito frowned. "But didn't you say the bakery got a large order for tomorrow? They'll need you. I'll be fine by myself." The words had no sooner left his mouth when he sneezed again. The light above his head shattered. All three of them ducked as yet more bits of broken glass littered the ground around them and clattered over the dining table. It was a good thing they had all finished eating or they'd have been picking glass out of their food.

"I still think there should be someone with you," Chikage said, giving the glass a pointed look. "I know you can't control these…power outbursts, but I think it would be safer for everyone if you aren't alone. I'd hate for the house to burn down."

"I can stay home," Shinichi offered. "I'm sure our teachers will let us make up any work we miss."

And so it was decided. Kaito still didn't think he needed someone to stay home and look after him, but he wasn't going to object. He didn't want Shinichi going to school without him anyway. He much preferred to keep Shinichi close by where he could keep an eye on him.

X

Ran was the first to notice that Kaito and Shinichi were absent. Their two resident detectives might have noticed sooner if they hadn't been busy arguing about a case they had both read about in the paper that morning.

"Do you think something might have happened?" Ran asked in a worried whisper as, all around them, the students readied themselves for the start of class.

Distracted from their bickering, the two detectives traded worried glances. If they had been talking about anyone else, they would have assumed that it was just your everyday kind of absence. The missing persons could have overslept or gone to a doctor's appointment. They could be sick or possibly even out on a family trip. Since they were talking about a certain magician and his oracle, however… Well, those two had been abnormal from the day they'd transferred to this school. And after the kidnapping incident and the ghost (and all the other little pieces of weirdness that had cropped up in between), it was anyone's guess what could have happened this time.

Unfortunately, they still had a whole day of classes ahead of them.

"We should swing by their place after school," Hattori said.

Hakuba nodded.

On cue, the bell rang, and the teacher rose from behind her desk.

It was when lunch time rolled around that they finally got their answer. It came in the form of Hattori's cell phone ringing. He answered it, and the exclamation of "Oh, Shinichi!" brought everyone else in their little group running over instantly.

"You two are home sick?" he asked incredulously. The magician who could part storms and flatten mountains had actually caught a cold? It sounded preposterous. It just went to show how there were some things that no one had the power to do anything about.

"So you're both basically all right," he said, and the tight coil of tension that had been tying his stomach in knots all morning abruptly unraveled and melted away. No, their friends weren't being pursued by dastardly criminals this time. Nor were they in the hospital. They were just your everyday kind of sick.

"We're fine," Shinichi assured him, feeling like he'd already repeated himself half a dozen times today. "But there are a few things I need you to do for me."

"Yeah? Just tell me, and I'll get it done," he said.

"Hang an 'Out of Order' sign on the bathroom doors near the front office. You need to do that soon. The signs are in the janitor's closet right next to the restrooms. The lock on that door is broken, so you shouldn't have any problem getting in. After that, let me see…" There was the crinkle of turning pages. "Make sure you know where the fire extinguisher in the chemistry classroom is today, and have Ran sit next to the window. At ten before the end of Lab, you need to get all the students and the teacher out of that room. Shut the door, and don't go inside again until you can't hear anything."

"What? What the hell are you going on about?"

"Wait, there's one more. At about twenty three minutes before the end of the last class period, you have to pull the fire alarm."

"What? Pull the fire alarm? But—"

"Sorry. I have to go."

"Wait, First tell me why—" The dark-skinned detective cut himself off then turned to glare at his unresponsive phone. "He hung up on me," he ground out. "The hell was that about? He just goes and dumps a load of weird instructions on us and expects us to do it all without an explanation?"

"If you're done, we would appreciate an explanation ourselves," Hakuba said pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah. He said they—well, Kaito anyway—caught a cold. And then he listed a bunch of stuff that he wants us to do."

"Like what?" asked Ran. "Do they need us to help them pick up medicine?"

The dark-skinned boy snorted. "Nothing like that." He quickly recounted what he could remember of Shinichi's to-do list to the growing confusion of his friends.

"We don't have the authority to do such things," Hakuba said when he was done. The blonde had a frown etched between his brows. Though the list was most definitely bizarre, he couldn't help but feel that they couldn't just ignore it all. They were, after all, instructions from a person who could see into the future. Surely he had his reasons. On the other hand, what reasons could possibly warrant such strange precautions?

"I…guess we could at least put up the 'out of order' sign," Ran said a bit uncertainly. "I mean, it's just for today. And, well, I'd rather be safe than sorry, you know?"

Since neither detective could argue with that logic, the three of them slipped away from the rest of the chattering students busy at their lunches. They found that the janitor's closet was, indeed, unlocked. The signs were right where Shinichi had said they would be too. By now, this didn't surprise any of them. But it was still a tiny bit unsettling.

So, trying not to feel like they had suddenly all become delinquent pranksters, they put the sign on the door to the boy's bathroom right next to the janitor's closet. Before they did so, however, Hattori couldn't resist a peek inside.

The bathroom looked exactly how it was supposed to. Not a single thing was out of place. He turned on the faucets to see if they were working, and they were. He moved to flush a toilet to see if that was working, and it was. So he was on his way out, puzzling over what the point of the whole escapade was, when suddenly every faucet in the bathroom turned on at the same time.

And they didn't just turn on. They practically exploded. Water jetted out of those faucets so hard that the spray they made dashing against the sides of the sinks sloughed like waves over the counters and across the bathroom floor. A particularly wild spout shot out almost horizontally to catch Hattori square in the chest.

He stumbled back at the force of the blow. His shoes slipped on the wet tiles, and he went over backward with a cry.

A pale hand seized his arm, steadying him. Then it was pulling him out of the waterworks and back to the safety of the hall.

A moment later, the bathroom door banged shut, and the 'Out of Order' sign swung happily and oh so innocently back into place.

"That," Hattori coughed, trying to clear his throat of the burning feeling you get when water goes up your nose or down the wrong pipe. "That was crazy!"

"Give me that list." Ran snatched the list from Hakuba's notebook and read it over again. "So, fire extinguisher. That part should be easy," she murmured to herself, running one finger down the blonde's neatly handwritten items. "But pulling the fire alarm…"

"I think we got no choice," Hattori said grimly, staring down at the soaked front of his shirt. "But first, I'm gonna go change. Good thing I still have my gym clothes."

Later that day, their chemistry lab caught fire. Fortunately, Hattori had had his hand ready to grab the fire extinguisher the entire time, so the flames leapt up then died a fast and foamy death mere moments later.

Ran, being the only student still seated by the window while the lab had its little fireworks show, was the only person who saw a long parade of…of tree people. She couldn't think of any other way to describe them. They were vaguely human in shape, but their bodies were made up of branches and flowers all woven expertly together into beautiful if slightly creepy life forms.

They crossed the lawn below the classroom window in a slow, shambling line. Then, as they reached the far side of the field, they vanished as though they had never been.

Ran didn't tell anyone about what she'd seen. She might have, but Hakuba had realized that it was time to evacuate.

So the blonde had not so accidentally dropped something he shouldn't have into one of the chemical solutions. It hissed and began to give off yellow smoke.

Students gasped, some screamed, but several wanted to get a better look. The teacher, however, knew better.

"Hold your breaths and get outside!" he ordered at the top of his lungs. "That gas is harmful to your body. Don't breathe it in!" That said, he moved to throw open the windows as his students escaped. Ran, who was already by the windows, helped.

They had no sooner shut the door then the _sounds_ started. There were snarls and yelps and crashes and bangs. There might even have been a shriek or two, though since no one was inside the room, none of them had any idea what could have produced the cry. The whole class stood frozen in the hallway with their eyes fixed on the door and their imaginations running rampant in their heads. It was a good half hour before the noises stopped.

They stopped so abruptly that no one noticed until Hattori wondered aloud if it was safe to go back inside yet.

The science teacher insisted that he open the door. When he did, his face went the color of old milk, and he sank to his knees.

His classroom had been completely trashed. Test tubes and beakers lay all over the floor, many of them smashed. The tables had long furrows gouged out of them like they'd been raked by massive claws. One table had been completely reduced to matchsticks. And the whiteboard had turned a flawless, neon green.

That was the day that the tale of the ghost of the chemistry classroom was born.

By this point, none of the three errand runners had much in the way of qualms left in regards to pulling the fire alarm when no fire was yet apparent. At the rate things had been going, the school could easily find itself at the heart of a volcanic eruption.

There was no volcanic eruption. But, the moment all the students had gathered on the lawn, every window on the school building blazed a brilliant orange. It was the color of firelight, and it flickered like firelight, but there was something not quite right about its motion to the two resident detectives' experienced eyes. It was like the fire or whatever it was was rushing this way and that through the building. There was no smoke either. Then, with a suddenness that made everyone jump, half the windows blew outward in a shower of glittering, glass shards.

Several people screamed. Many leapt or stumbled back and fell. Even the firefighters who'd just arrived stopped in their tracks to gape.

What astonished them all even more was the way the glass suddenly flew back into the window frames, piecing themselves together like so many jigsaw puzzles. In no time at all, every window was back to the way it had been. Even the cracks disappeared. And now, all was still once more.

"That…was really weird," a boy near the front of the crowd said. Not a single person present disagreed.

The firefighters warned everyone to remain outside as they ventured into the building to investigate. When they returned, they reported that all appeared to be in order. The only thing was that, for some reason, every single ruler in the school had snapped into perfect halves. That, and every whiteboard in every classroom was now covered in crazy, scrawling lines of nonsense.

Ran shivered. "That's so creepy."

"No kidding," Kazuha agreed. She'd joined her friends during the evacuation. "And did you see the way the windows repaired themselves? It was like magic!" She cut herself off abruptly as her eyes grew wide. "Wait, was it…?"

"He and Shinichi are both home sick today," Hattori said, lowering his voice. "So it can't be him…"

Hakuba looked skeptical. "You think not?"

There was a long silence during which they all looked at each other. It was Kazuha who eventually broke the silence.

"Well, I'd rather think it was him than that it was some ghost haunting our school."

X

Opening the medicine cabinet, Shinichi frowned at its contents. There really wasn't much in there. They had a few things for dealing with headaches, Band-Aids, and a handful of other products for dealing with cuts and scrapes. They didn't have anything for colds.

He frowned and shut the cabinet door. He'd meant to buy some last time they'd been at the store. But then he'd noticed that somehow, when he'd been distracted, the oranges had morphed into an extra bag of chocolate. He'd switched the items back and rushed the cart through checkout before any more of the items could mysteriously transform into sweets. And so he'd forgotten to swing by the medicine aisle.

He padded into the kitchen and filled a mug with warm water. Then he squeezed a slice of lemon into it because he'd heard that was good for colds. Mug in hand, he returned to his and Kaito's room.

The magician was sitting on their bed with his back against a pile of pillows and a book open on his lap. A comic book, Shinichi observed. One that Hattori had lent the magician last week.

"Kai," he said softly. "I brought you more water."

He noted with worry the way that Kaito reacted a split second slower than he usually would have.

Slightly unfocused, indigo eyes met his from over a lopsided grin. "Thanks Shin-chan. I think I've discovered one of the fundamental laws of the universe."

Shinichi handed him the mug. "Really?"

"Yep. Being sick sucks."

"…Oh." Shinichi blinked. "I need to head to the store and pick up some fever medicine."

Indigo eyes narrowed instantly, all signs of fogginess gone. "You can call and ask mom to get it on her way back."

"You need the medicine now," the oracle said pointedly, though he hadn't moved to touch the thermometer sitting on the desk of the nightstand. "It won't take long."

"Then I'll go with you. A quick walk in the fresh air should be good for recovery."

Kaito swung his legs over the side of the bed and moved to stand, but Shinichi held up a hand to stop him. Without a word, the oracle pointed to Kaito's right hand. The magician followed the direction of his finger to see that there were little, multicolored sparks leaping from his fingertips.

"Oops," he muttered, brows furrowing. The sparks stopped dancing around his right hand. Instead, they began to spiral around his left. Annoyed, he waved the hand like someone shooing away flies. A small gout of flames blazed through the air.

Shinichi jerked back in alarm. When he was sure nothing was going to catch fire, he looked back at Kaito. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

Kaito grimaced. "Fine. I'll stay here. But if you're not back in half an hour, I'm going to go look for you."

X

Shinichi loved the grocery store. He suspected others would find his fascination with the place to be quite odd, but, for him, it represented a kind of freedom that would never get old. It was always so bright and full of new and refreshing things. He marveled at the neat pyramids of produce and the shelves upon shelves of boxed and canned foods. It was an endless sea of choices. It was wonderful in a day to day life kind of way.

The medicine aisle wasn't one he'd visited much though. Shinichi found himself standing between two rows of shelves all covered in boxes of different colors and labels. Some were simple and straight forward, others made no sense. Several of them sounded like the same thing in different packaging. How was he supposed to tell which one was better?

Shinichi hovered in front of the cold medication for several minutes before deciding to pick the one that looked the most familiar. He had just reached the end of the line in front of the cash register when the doors to the grocery store suddenly burst inward.

Two large men came charging in. They had wooly hats pulled low over their faces and ski masks on to hide their features. Both were armed.

"Stay where you are and don't move!" the taller one bellowed, brandishing his weapon. "If anyone calls the police, you're all dead. Now, you at the register, give us all the money you got in there."

For a moment, no one reacted. None of them could quite believe that this was happening. The reality of the situation was only just sinking in when it happened.

Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning smashed through the grocery store's front doors and caught the taller robber in the back. He let out a gargled scream as his hair stood on end. Then he collapsed to the ground, still smoldering. His partner in crime turned at his cry and let out a pained scream of his own as a second bolt of lightning struck him square in the chest. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he landed in a graceless heap on the floor as well.

The young man behind the cash register whistled. "Now that's what I call divine punishment."

There was a scattering of laughter and applause. Then a few of the onlookers set about unmasking and restraining the unconscious robbers while another of the store clerk's picked up the phone to call the police.

Preoccupied with willing the checkout line to move faster, it took Shinichi several seconds to realize that the strange buzzing sound in his ears was his cell phone. The little device was a recent acquisition (a plain, silver thing that Sonoko had called a fossil), and he still wasn't entirely used to its presence. He often forgot it even existed. When the vibrating phone finally registered, Shinichi fumbled hurriedly through his pockets.

"Hello?"

"Hey Shinichi, it's Heiji. We just got to your house but no one's answering the door. Are you out or something?"

"What? Oh, uh, yes, I needed to go buy fever medication. Did you guys need something?"

"Need something?" the teen on the other end of the phone repeated, puzzled. "No, we just came to see how you guys were." There was a murmur of voices in the background. "Oh, and Ran brought some stuff from home to make soup." Then, away from the phone but still audible, "Why in the world did you bring a pot too? I'm sure they have pots."

"But this is the one I'm used to using," Ran's voice replied. "And besides, they could be using the pots they have for other things."

"That was rather thoughtful of you," a third voice said.

"Oh, um, thank you, but really, it was nothing."

"So how long are you gonna be out?" Heiji continued, returning to the phone. "We can wait."

"That won't be necessary. I put a spare key in the flowerbed this morning."

"Just this morning huh?"

"Yes." He had had the feeling that he should, though he hadn't known why until just now. "Count six flowers from the left then two in. It should be under that one."

"Let's see…five, six…and two… Got it! We'll let ourselves in then. You don't mind if we use the kitchen, right?"

"No, it's fine. I'll be back soon."

"Cool. See ya."

Shinichi paid for his purchase on autopilot. There was something niggling at the back of his mind. Something about that conversation…

He was waiting at the traffic light when he realized what it was. Fishing his phone out, he dialed Heiji's number.

"Yo, not very good timing," the detective said the moment he picked up. "Carryin' a bowl of hot soup here."

"Sorry. I just wanted to ask, did Kaito greet you guys when you went in?"

"Huh? Uh, no." Heiji sounded confused. "We figured he was asleep."

Shinichi frowned slightly. That was possible. Still, it was strange for Kaito not to have reacted to the presence of visitors. He would have known it wasn't Shinichi because Shinichi wouldn't ring the doorbell. And neither of them had grown comfortable enough around others yet to stay quietly in bed when there were guests, even if those guests were people they were beginning to consider friends. Could Kaito have already left the house? But it hadn't been half an hour yet.

"Hey, his room is the first one at the top of the stairs, right?" Heiji asked. There was the sound of a door opening then a pause. "Whoa, that's really weird."

"What is?" Shinichi demanded. "Is Kaito there?"

"Yeah. He's sleeping. But the air in the room is kinda glowing. Hold on, just let me put this soup down—"

"No, don't go in!" he shouted into the phone moments before a loud crash came across the line. His stomach turned over with worry. "Hello? Are you all right? Heiji!"

The voice that answered was shaky but clear. "I—yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But the tray… It—it just—_dissolved_!"

Shinichi winced, partly at the sheer volume of the exclamation and partly at the images that flashed through his mind.

He still remembered the first time Kaito had gotten like this. The magician didn't get sick often. It had only ever happened twice in his life—well, before now anyway—and both instances had been… The oracle shook his head. He still remembered what had happened to that poor guard who'd been assigned the job of delivering cold medication to their rooms that first time. Fortunately for him, his arm had been the only part of him to cross the threshold. His screams and the sight of his arm dissolving into ashes had haunted Shinichi's dreams—or rather nightmares—for weeks afterwards.

"Please don't go into that room," he said, breaking into a run the moment the walk light blinked on. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

**TBC**

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A.N: When I started this, it was supposed to be something short and funny, but it ended up becoming something a bit more serious. There should only be three or four chapters though. In any case, hope you enjoyed it and have a great week!


	2. Old Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters.

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**Fragments of Yesterday**

2: Old Memories

_ He could hear Shinichi crying._

_ It was his fault, he knew. Shinichi never cried for himself. Not since the beginning. There were only two things that he would weep for now. More commonly, his tears were for his visions. Those tears were brought on by the raw emotions that came with those visions—emotions he could not control for they were as much a part of the visions as the images themselves. Today, however, there were no visions._

_ Kaito leaned against the wall outside their bedroom door, listening. He wanted nothing more than to go to Shinichi right then—to hold him and tell him that everything would be okay, but he couldn't._

_ Just this once, he felt he didn't have the right. _

_ He closed his eyes, picturing Shinichi's face as it had been that morning. He remembered vividly the desperation shining in earnest blue eyes._

_ "Don't do it."_

X

Shinichi burst through the front door to find Ran, Hattori, and Hakuba all gathered at the top of the stairs. He scrambled out of his shoes then raced up to the landing.

"Shinichi!" Ran exclaimed. "What's happening?"

The oracle barely registered the question. He could see the sparks whirling around their bedroom even before he reached the stairs. And they were beginning to flicker past the threshold of the bedroom's open door.

That was not a good sign.

"Move away!" he instructed, pushing his way past the cluster of high school students. His steps never even faltered as he dove into the room.

He heard Hattori cry out in warning behind him, but he ignored the sound.

It was like plunging into liquid sunlight. The magic swept over him, into him, _through_ him—crackling, buzzing, and pulsing between hot and cold. The air danced with thin streaks of gold lightning. He shuddered at the sensation.

It felt like being transparent, although he wasn't sure if anyone would understand what he meant.

It recognized him. He'd known it would. That was why he had nothing to fear.

Arriving next to the bed, he reached out first to give Kaito's shoulder a gentle shake. The magician didn't stir.

X

_ "Don't do it. Please…"_

_ Kaito blinked in confusion at the top of Shinichi's head. The boy had his head bowed, and the hand holding onto Kaito's sleeve was trembling, knuckles white with tension._

_ "Shin-chan?" he asked gently._

_ Shinichi finally looked up then. Brilliant blue eyes met Kaito's gaze, their depths glittering with a myriad of emotions: fear, despair, determination, and others—none of which Kaito could think of a reason for. "No matter what they say. Promise me you won't agree."_

_ Kaito opened his mouth to ask Shinichi what he was talking about—to ask him why, but the large guard waiting outside their door cleared his throat loudly. So, instead, Kaito offered Shinichi his best reassuring smile and left._

X

Shinichi bit his lip. His stomach twisted in worry.

Turning, he set the bag of things he'd just bought down on the desk and pulled out the fever medicine. He read over the directions before taking the bottle out of the box. He shook out two pills then turned to look for the glass of water that should also have been on the desk. It was empty.

Shinichi set the pills on the corner of the table and picked up the empty glass. Then he turned for the door.

As he did so, however, a wave of vertigo swept through him. He stumbled. It suddenly felt like all the energy had been sapped out of him. His world spun.

For a moment, he almost sank to the ground. But he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and staggered on.

He knew it was Kaito's way of making sure he stayed nearby. But he was the only person who could walk safely in and out of this room, and Kaito needed to take that medicine.

X

_ He sat alone in the small 'conference' room, staring at the papers spread out on the table before him. The seat across from him was empty now, but he could still see the woman who had been there earlier in his mind's eye. He could still hear her words—her offer._

_ She had delivered it with a smile. Then she had left the room, taking the guards with her. Although he was certain that the guards at least were still standing just outside the door. There were also four cameras in the room. It was a ridiculous number of cameras for such a tiny space, but these people were a cautious bunch—especially around him. The thought always sent a surge of vicious pleasure through him. He relished in the knowledge that they feared him. Perhaps he shouldn't, but it was hard not to. In some ways, it was one of the things that anchored him. Though sometimes he wondered if he was just deluding himself, searching for some illusion of power in this situation where they were all really just helpless._

_ He picked up the file on the right of the spread and stared at the photograph at the top. The picture showed a man in his late forties with a bristling mustache and a squint. Kaito recognized that face even without the information detailed in the file. This was Dr. Maruguchi, the scientist in charge of studying Shinichi's abilities._

_ Kaito's hand fisted, scrunching up the edge of the paper in the process. The first time he'd laid eyes on the man had been a week after they'd first been brought to this forsaken place. That had been years ago now (four? Five? It was hard to keep track in this place, though he would bet Shinichi knew the time down to the day), but he still vividly remembered the man dragging Shinichi away that day._

_How many times since then had he watched Shinichi disappear with this man? It happened once a week. He often found himself wondering if he should stop them, but those times they took Shinichi to the lab were also the only times when Kaito was allowed to meet his mother. He suspected it was their way of keeping him quiet. Loathed as he was to admit it, it was an effective ploy on their part._

_Shinichi always told him not to worry about it, though he never would explain what exactly those bastards got up to in that lab (and Kaito had the sneaking suspicion that Shinichi wouldn't tell him even if they were really hurting him in there). All he'd say was that the scientists wanted to know how his powers worked. It was per their instructions that, for a year now, Shinichi had been told to keep a detailed journal about all of his visions. He wrote them all down with supplementary sketches. And then the documents would be taken away and never seen again by either boy._

_ Here, Kaito had information on where all those journal entries had gone._

_ He picked up another file, thumbing through it. These bastards had found themselves a goldmine, he realized. From his Shin-chan's dreams, they had garnered a vast amount of information about the future—information that they were already exploiting to get themselves a whole lot of gold and influence. It was no wonder their guards had been somewhat more obliging lately about what kind of food they brought and fetching a few luxury items for them like that color pencil set and those Poker cards, Kaito thought, torn between pride for his friend and disgust at these leaches who would stoop to taking advantage of Shinichi's gifts for their own gain. He knew it wasn't the kind of thing Shinichi had wanted from his visions._

_But that wasn't the issue here._

_ He picked up yet another set of files. These were why they had brought him here today. Why they had left him here alone to think. Because, with these, they believed they knew what he would decide._

_ That man, Maruguchi, had been deceiving them all. He had altered some of Shinichi's journal entries before passing them on, feeding false information to the rest of the Wraith while he took the correct information and made himself a not-so-small fortune. He'd only done it a few times, but, each time, the errors that came up on the other end of the process came back to his research division as complaints. And each time the complaints arrived, the man had pushed the blame for the errors onto Shinichi._

_ Indigo eyes narrowed._

_ So that was what had happened._

_ Kaito remembered a day roughly three months ago when he'd found Shinichi curled up in the corner of their room after one of those weekly lab visits, trembling and murmuring to himself._

_ "I can't be wrong, I can't be wrong," he had chanted under his breath like it was a magic spell. "I can't."_

_ "Shin-chan, what's the matter?" Kaito had asked, alarmed. He'd knelt down beside Shinichi and placed his hands on the smaller boy's shoulders. "What happened?"_

_ "If I can't give them good information then they won't need us anymore," Shinichi had said in a rush, eyes wide with something as close to terror as Kaito had ever seen on his face. "I…I can't let that happen."_

_ Kaito barely heard his words, gaze fixed on Shinichi's face. Now that the oracle no longer had his face buried in his knees, Kaito could see the bruise darkening on his left cheek. Moving of its own accord, the young magician's hand rose. His fingertips brushed over the blemished skin. Shinichi flinched, and Kaito pulled his hand back._

_ "What happened?" His voice sounded strange even to his own ears._

_ Blue eyes softened. Small hands reached up to clasp the hand Kaito had just withdrawn._

_ "It's okay."_

_ And it wasn't right at all, the magician thought, that _Shinichi_ was apparently trying to reassure _him_._

_It was not okay at all, and he hated how Shinichi could say that like he meant it._

_ Giving himself a shake, Kaito forced himself to focus back on the papers in his hands._

_ The man had used Shinichi as a scapegoat for his own misdeeds then had the nerve to punish the oracle for them. Even thinking about it was enough to make Kaito's blood boil._

X

With an effort, Shinichi half leapt, half fell out of the room. He would have fallen flat on his face if Hattori hadn't caught him. A fountain of sparks followed him out into the hall. Hattori cursed and half carried, half dragged Shinichi towards the stairs. His grip on the smaller boy was so tight it was painful.

"What the hell is—"

He was cut off as a shockwave shook the entire house. His feet slipped. In an instant, both he and Shinichi were tumbling down the rest of the stairs. In the kitchen, they could hear Ran's and Hakuba's cries of shock. The empty glass Shinichi had been carrying smashed to pieces on the floor.

X

_ "You can put an end to it," the woman had said with that saccharine smile. In a scant handful of sentences, she had offered him both a chance at revenge upon his best friend's tormentor and the opportunity to save Shinichi from ever having to go back to that lab. They still wanted the journal entries, but there would be no more 'research'._

_ And all Kaito would have to do was kill a man._

_ It was the first time anyone had ever suggested that he should take a life. If he'd been asked before, he wouldn't even have considered it. His father had always emphasized how people with powers like theirs needed to master their emotions because, if they let themselves get carried away, their magic could easily cause a great deal of harm. They were responsible for not letting that happen. And yet… And yet, sitting here now, he hesitated._

_ Now he understood why Shinichi had said those words to him that morning. He understood too, the despair behind that desperate plea._

_ When he stood in the lab before Doctor Maruguchi, he knew that he was going to do it._

_ And the doctor knew it too. It was written on his face. His eyes were bright with terror despite the fact that the boy standing before him was less than a third his age. The man scrambled for something—anything—that could save him._

_ The only regret Kaito had carried home that night had been the regret that he was the one who'd made Shinichi cry. For he knew then that Shinichi's tears were for the blood on his hands. He would never be able to tell Shinichi that he had wanted it—had wanted to make that man suffer for all that he'd put Shinichi through. When he'd seen the man vanish in a twisting pillar of white fire, all he had felt was a vicious, acid triumph._

_ This new knowledge about himself was chilling, but he accepted it because, in some ways, he'd known it all along. And he knew then too that he had lost something—something precious and indefinable. Something that could never be retrieved._

* * *

**TBC**


	3. Old Promises

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters.

* * *

**Fragments of Yesterday**

3: Old Promises

Ran had been watching the chicken soup simmer on the stove when the lights over her head flickered. Hakuba looked up from his seat at the dining table where he was sorting through the papers in his backpack for the assignments that they were supposed to be passing on to Kaito and Shinichi. All the lights in the kitchen went out for a second before coming back on again.

"That's certainly peculiar," the detective observed, frowning. If it had been only one bulb flickering then it could have been a simple case of a dying bulb. This, however, was clearly something different.

"I suppose there's something wrong with the power lines," Ran said a little uncertainly. Power outages were normal after all, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling creeping over her. Her gaze drifted to the lights directly above her, half expecting them to go out again. She was so focused on the lights that she didn't notice Hakuba rising from the kitchen table until he spoke, his voice a sharp, sudden crack in the silence.

"Ran, the soup!"

Confused, she looked back down—and stared. The translucent, gold liquid inside the pot was bubbling, which would have been normal for a liquid on the verge of boiling if not for the fact that the frothing lot of it had exceeded the sides of its metal container. Being an experienced cook, Ran knew how much a pot could hold without boiling over, and she knew she had measured everything correctly, but the soup wasn't simply bubbling out of the pot. It was rising like a geyser straight up in a frothing, yellow gold pillar. Even as she stumbled back with a cry, ladle flailing, the soup had completely risen free of its former confiner and was now twisting and contorting into odd shapes in mid air over the stove. First it was simply a mass of undulating, ripples. Then it was a serpent writhing in the shape of a figure eight before it drew in on itself and unfurled again into a demonic face with eyes that were nothing but holes in its liquid mask and a shapeless mouth that gaped open wider and wider as the thing advanced.

Ran knew she was screaming. She had never liked ghost stories, and her recent introduction to the reality of the existence of supernatural beings and powers was still a shock she was getting used to—a shock that she would call unpleasant except that she didn't want to hurt her new friends feelings. They had suffered enough because of their abilities.

But this… This was like something out of her nightmares.

The steaming, hissing face flew straight at her, mouth stretching as though it was going to swallow her whole. Ad all she could smell was hot chicken soup, which might have made the creature—thing, ghost?—rather comical if it hadn't been so absolutely terrifying.

With another scream, she lashed out at it with her ladle. There was a swish and a splatter, and suddenly the floor was covered in soup.

On cue, the whole house shook. The floor heaved. Ran stumbled and would have fallen if not for the hand that closed around her arm. She looked around to see a white-faced Hakuba holding a heavy math textbook in one hand as he stared at the rest of his books. All of them were rising from the table where they had been lying, and they were beginning to whirl in circles over the dining table like a mad merry-go-round. One jetted out of the flock straight at him, but he bashed it out of the air with the math textbook.

"We have to get out of here. Now."

Ran wasn't going to argue.

The girl and the detective stumbled into the front hall to find Heiji picking himself up off the floor at the foot of the stairs. He was cursing loudly. Lying not far from where the dark-skinned teen had been was Shinichi, who wasn't moving.

"Shinichi?" Running to the oracle's side, Ran knelt down beside him and turned him over. Shinichi's eyes were closed. There was a large bruise forming on the side of his face. When Ran tried to shake him awake, he let out a pained whimper. She stopped quickly.

"What happened?" Hakuba demanded, still holding his textbook like a weapon.

"I dunno," Heiji snapped. "Kuroba's magic's gone ballistic. We gotta get out of this house."

Hakuba was already at the front door. Heiji crouched next to Shinichi, and Ran helped him get the unconscious oracle onto his back.

Outside, the world was going mad. The sky blazed through every color imaginable, blinking from one to the next and back again like it was channel surfing. Up and down the street, people were opening windows and spilling out of doorways to gawk heavenward.

"We can head over to my house," Ran offered. "It's the closest."

Having no better ideas, the boys agreed. All three cast wary looks back at the house they had just left before setting off down the street. There were lights in the windows—strange, twisting lights that flickered like fire, tracing nonsense symbols against the glass. It was enough to make the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end. On the bright side, nothing outside the house was flying about and trying to bash their faces in.

Yet.

The fact that that could change at any moment went unsaid, but Ran was pretty sure that they were all thinking it. Best to put some distance between themselves and the source until things quieted down. Hopefully Shinichi would wake up soon. If anyone would know how to solve this predicament, it would be him.

Tense and silent, the three teens wove their way through the crowd thickening on the streets.

"Maybe it's an aurora," Ran heard a young boy suggest to his two friends.

"It can't be," the one girl in the trio said, though she didn't sound all that certain of her statement. "Auroras are only supposed to happen at the North Pole. That's why they're called the Northern Lights, right?"

"Maybe it's some kind of special effect," the second boy said. "They must be filming a movie somewhere nearby."

The first boy shook his head. "We'd have heard about a project that big being filmed right here in town. I think it's probably some kind of new climate phonomi…uh, phona—phenomenon. Yeah, that's it. It's part of global warming. The weather everywhere is going crazy."

"That doesn't look like any kind of weather to me," his large friend grumped. "I bet it's aliens."

Further down the street, two women were standing on the fringe of the local park.

"Has that always been there?" one was asking. She was pointing to a large, stone lion that was standing in the middle of the grassy field that served as the heart of the little park.

"I don't think so," her friend said slowly. "It looks so real…"

As if to answer her, the lion opened its rough, stony jaws and roared.

The women screamed and bolted. The lion threw back its head and roared again. Then it exploded in an expanding cloud of glittering, silver dust and crackles of blue lightning.

And those were the calmest of the cries of the storm.

As Ran, Heiji, and Hakuba made their way towards he Mouri house, they saw lamp posts sprout long, skinny arms and legs and yank themselves out of the ground. They had to make a detour around a major intersection because there was a sudden and ferocious snowstorm. It swamped the entire intersection with snow, burying a dozen cars in the process. At the next corner, a pillar of fire suddenly erupted out of a woman's tote bag. She shrieked and flung it away from her, but the flames kept spewing forth like the tote was a singularly strange flamethrower.

Traffic came to a screeching halt as cries of horror and confusion filled the air.

As though answering to the rising flames, a nearby fire hydrant suddenly spat out a jet of water. It rushed across the street in a white torrent that spiraled upward into a watery twister. The pillar of fire answered in kind, beginning to spin. Faster and faster they whirled until both exploded outward.

People screamed. Stationary cars disgorged terrified passengers. Everyone had the same thought in mind: run. Only a scant few lingered. Most of these were teenagers standing with their cell phones up, snapping pictures and recording videos with the special kind of fearlessness born from youth and inexperience that said injury and death were things that happened to other people.

Skirting around the disaster zone, Ran prayed that those gawking teens would not be learning their lesson today.

X

_ "Kai?" The whispered name left his lips so tentatively that Shinichi wasn't at all sure he had spoken it aloud. But then the warm body lying next to him stirred._

_ "What is it?"_

_ "I… I can't sleep."_

_ Kaito shifted to wrap his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him closer and tucking Shinichi's head under his chin. "What's on your mind?"_

_ There was a long moment of silence before Shinichi spoke. His words were warm puffs against Kaito's neck. "I'm afraid."_

_ The arms around him tightened. "Did you have a vision?"_

_ "No, it's not that. I was just thinking…"_

_ "About what?"_

_ "I… I'm afraid that I'm going to forget."_

_ He could sense Kaito's confusion even if he couldn't see a thing in the darkness behind his closed eyelids._

_ "What do you think you'll forget?"_

_ "I…" He paused, drawing in a ragged breath as he struggled to find the words to describe the fear that had begun to gnaw at him. That cold, suffocating sensation that had taken root in his chest… "Everything," he said finally. "About the past. And the outside. I'm afraid I'm going to forget the color of the sky and what the stars look like. I'm afraid I'm going to forget what the wind feels like and how warm the sun is when you're standing underneath it. Sometimes, I think I'm forgetting Mom and Dad's faces. And I…It just feels like I'm slipping away. It's like everything we had was a dream. None of it feels real anymore. The house, the library, that park we used to play at, the little magic shows your dad put on for us when the weather was bad and we couldn't go outside. Do you remember those?"_

_ "I do," Kaito murmured, soft breaths ruffling the hair on top of Shinichi's head. "Like that time Dad was watching us while our mothers were out shopping and your dad was at a book signing. You just got your own soccer ball, and we were going to go to the park. You were going to teach me how to play. But then the storm blew in, and Tou-san said we had to stay inside. He saw how disappointed we were, so he put on a show for us in your living room."_

_ "I think that was the first time I saw him using doves in his tricks," Shinichi recalled._

_ Kaito chuckled, the sound more a vibration in his chest than an actual sound. "Yeah. He made your soccer ball explode into a flock of white and black doves. You thought he'd actually popped your first soccer ball. You were so horrified you cried."_

_ Shinichi wrinkled his nose but laughed too, curling closer to Kaito's warmth. "Hey, I was only, like, five."_

"_True. Then he had the birds fly back, and they all came together and became a ball again."_

"_It was the best piece of magic I'd ever seen."_

_ "I could do it too, you know," Kaito said. "I've gotten really good at controlling the magic."_

_ The moment of exuberance subsided as Shinichi buried his face more firmly against Kaito's shoulder. "I know," he said. And he did. Too well. He knew of the power growing in his best friend's soul. The power that had once been a crackling light ready to explode across the sky like fireworks and summer snow now burned like icy fire._

_ "I don't want to forget any of it," he whispered, though whether he was talking to himself or to Kaito or to some invisible third entity with the threads of fate in their hands, even he had no idea. "If we forget then we won't be who we were anymore. And I'm afraid of what would be left."_

_ "That's silly. You'll always be you, just like I'll always be me."_

_ Shinichi made a noncommittal sound that ne knew Kaito would interpret as agreement and wished, quietly, that it would be true even though he could already see them both changing. It was all too easy to see the change in the cold steel behind the deep indigo of Kaito's eyes._

_ Kaito wrinkled his nose. He couldn't see Shinichi's face, but he could tell that his friend was still worrying. Shinichi always did like to over think things. In Kaito's opinion, things were dour enough as they were without going out of their way to look for things to be depressed about._

_ "Come on." Sitting up abruptly, Kaito swung his legs over the side of the bed. Then he dragged Shinichi up to sit next to him. All around them, the little bedroom was nothing but a haze of black and blacker shadows._

_ "There!" Kaito said triumphantly as he raised his left hand, his right still tightly grasping Shinichi's own._

_ And there in the darkness before them, tiny lights blossomed. They filled the molasses darkness until every swath of shadow was dusted with sugar crystals._

_ Shinichi could only gaze upon the ethereal scene in wonder._

_ "We won't forget any of it," Kaito told him, and it was both a promise and a command. "I'll make sure of it. And one day we'll all see real stars again."_

_ Shinichi had to smile then as a great weight lifted from his chest because Kaito really was still Kaito._

X

His head throbbed.

Letting out a quiet groan, Shinichi pried open his eyes. He got the impression of movement and heard a strange, dry rustling rather like leaves being tossed in a wind except louder and more rhythmic. Woozy and disoriented, it took him a long moment to understand what he was seeing.

There was a…a flock of papers in the air above him. Each sheaf was flapping its ends like they were wings as it soared around and around the room, darting and diving just like ungainly and extremely flat birds. A few, much larger flying papers were clearly the pages from a newspaper. Others were printouts or pieces of binder paper. There were so many of the flapping things that he caught only fleeting glimpses of the ceiling past their beating 'wings'.

It was a bizarre but spectacular sight, and Shinichi spent several long moments just watching the papers in their flittering flight. He supposed he should be more surprised, but growing up with Kaito had rendered him somewhat immune to odd awakenings.

It was the thought of Kaito and his many antics that abruptly reminded Shinichi of what had happened.

With a cry, he sat bolt upright only to groan again as a sharp pain lanced through his skull. He heard voices rising from some other point in the room before hands grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

"Don't move so fast," a girl's voice—Ran, he thought—urged. "You hit your head pretty hard when you fell down the stairs."

"My head?" he echoed, raising a hand to feel along his scalp. Touching a lump, he winced. He had definitely gotten a bruise there. And another on the side of his face, if the swollen feeling in his cheek and the tenderness of the area when he touched it were any indication. That would explain his pounding head.

"Where are we?" he asked. Though his vision was still fuzzy, he could clearly make out that this was not anywhere in the little house he shared with the Kurobas. This was an apartment. A spacious one with a large desk by a comfortably furnished sitting area. He suspected many of the flock flapping about over their heads had come from that desk as it was now strewn with empty manila folders.

Shinichi himself had been lying on a couch. Sitting there now, he could see that the sky outside the apartment was green.

He blinked.

It was still green.

Then he looked up at the flock of papers.

Called by some inner voice—an instinct, perhaps, he rose shakily to his feet despite Ran's protests. Seeing that he wasn't going to lie back down, she waved Hattori over, and the two of them supported Shinichi as the oracle made his way across the apartment to the windows and looked outside.

None of the teens had done this since they had arrived in the Mouri apartment. At first, it had been because they were busy making sure that Shinichi hadn't suffered a concussion. Then it was so that they could make themselves a quick meal. Grumbling stomachs never helped people think. Then all the papers in the apartment had taken flight, and that had been awe-inspiring enough to keep all their eyes trained inward until now.

The street outside was nothing like it had been when they had first arrived. Four teens stood in crowded about the window, gazing in rapt attention and growing awe and disbelief.

Everything was going mad.

**TBC**

* * *

**A.N**: The last part will take a bit longer. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!


	4. Clear Skies

Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters.

* * *

**Fragments of Yesterday**

4: Clear Skies

"Oh my god," Ran breathed.

The street she had grown up on, a place she had known all her life, was now unrecognizable.

Everything had changed. What had once been a bright and relatively lively street full of shops situated beneath family apartments and small business offices was now a…well, she wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't what it had been.

The buildings were all white and black. Like unfinished paintings from a storybook, each building was a swath of solid blackness with the occasional window to break the void. But those same black buildings had adjacent white walls that hummed and seemed to glow like fluorescent lights.

The street itself had twisted. Rather than running straight, it meandered wildly this way in that, curling in upon itself at some points and splitting at others to race away in completely different directions. Odd rock formations jutted up out of the mess of writhing streets like paper cutout mountains. Black spikes, some nearly tree height, speared skyward at odd and unpredictable places and angles. Worst of all, the entire mess seemed to be moving, undulating slowly as though the chaos of shapes and colors were breathing entities waiting to wake.

There were no people, they were all glad to see, for none of them could imagine what would happen to a person who tried to venture out into that oozing, twisting, and slowly metamorphosing world. But there were…creatures. Tall, white things that billowed out like ghosts as they flickered in and out of sight. Other creatures were darker. These were thin and straight, with long arms tipped in talons and faces that were all mouth and fangs. These too seemed to rise from the darker patches of this chaotic dreamscape only to vanish again just as their pale counterparts did.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Heiji muttered, turning away from the window.

Ran silently agreed. The vision beyond the window was nauseating in its instability and wrongness.

"Is it all real?" Hakuba asked. The quiet horror in his voice made Ran shiver and Heiji tense. Neither of them had thought yet of what all those changes outside would mean beyond this instant. But now it was impossible not to think about it and wonder.

"No," Shinichi said with such firmness that there was no room at all for contradiction.

"So…what do we do now?" asked Ran. "Do we wait?"

They all looked at Shinichi. The oracle looked again out the window before turning to face them, a slight frown on his face as his eyes gazed unfocused at something far away that none but he could see. Then he shook his head.

"I…would like to go back. I shouldn't have left."

"You realize you almost got a concussion," Hattori said like he thought Shinichi might have addled his brains when he'd hit his head. "It wasn't just paper flying around your house either. Our textbooks tried to brain us."

"I would have been fine. Kaito wouldn't hurt me," Shinichi said levelly. "I know you meant well, but you made it worse when you took me away. You made him angry. Can't you feel it?"

There was an awkward silence before Ran spoke, hesitant. "Shinichi, we have no idea what's happening. Do you think you could explain? From the beginning? We want to help, but we can't do that if we don't understand."

Shinichi fidgeted a moment, torn between the desperate desire to go home and the knowledge that these people, who had welcomed them and stood by them, deserved to understand. Eventually, he nodded and sat down gingerly on the very edge of the couch.

He opened his mouth then shut it again, not at all sure where to start. But then something Kaito's father had said came back to him.

"Magic draws its strength from emotion," he started. "Toichi-san—that's Kaito's father—always said that a magician has to be able to control his emotions if he wants to control his magic. Mastering the former lets him harness the latter."

"I'm not sure I get it," Heiji said.

Hakuba snorted. "You should understand better than any of us. Although I suppose it would explain a lot if you don't."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" the other detective demanded. That comment had smelled of an insult, but he wasn't entirely sure in what way, so he decided to be offended on principal.

"Isn't it obvious? It's the same as lashing out when you're angry or refraining despite your anger because you know better. Mind over matter. It just so happens that people with…power have more to lash out with than a fist."

Heiji glowered at his blonde friend, but that explanation had actually made sense. "Okay, fine. Whatever. I still don't see why Kuroba being sick led to all that." He gestured at the window. "Last I checked, being sick wasn't the same as being angry. Though I guess it can be a pretty frustrating state to be in."

"Maybe he's having a nightmare," Ran suggested, looking to Shinichi. "Is that what's going on?"

The oracle looked worried—something that only added to Ran's own anxiety. "He may be. It's hard to say. My leaving wouldn't have helped."

"I suppose it is pointless asking you how he would know you are gone," Hakuba stated more than asked.

"I'd still like to know," said Heiji. "It might help us figure out what to do about that." He gestured towards the window for emphasis. "Beats just sitting around and waiting for it to die down."

"He's right." Ran turned to Shinichi. "I'm sorry if we made things worse. We didn't mean to, and I'd hate for anyone to get hurt because of it. Do you know how we can stop it?"

The oracle bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I…don't really know. It might help to go back, but it won't be easy making our way through." He grimaced as the words left his lips. Though he had had a premonition about Kaito's cold, he had had no idea at all that the situation would degenerate into this mess, and he wondered, not for the first time and likely not for the last, why it was that his powers always seemed to lead him and the people he loved into danger rather than out of it. Even from here, he could sense the tension in the atmosphere of the city. The energy crackling like restless lightning preparing to strike. He could sense Kaito's presence in that power—his presence but not his consciousness. This was magic at its most dangerous, he realized. Raw, powerful, and driven only by instinct and unbridled emotions.

How had it gotten to this point? The one time Kaito had been sick back while they were still prisoners, his power outburst had been limited to the area within their rooms. Then again, Kaito had been much younger then. His magic had only grown more powerful over the years. But was that all?

His gaze wandered to the window again. Such wild displays were nothing at all like what he remembered from those three days way back then. This was more…active.

Maybe Ran was right and Kaito really was having a nightmare.

He sighed, shifting his gaze from the surreal scene outside to the papers still flapping around and around the ceiling.

The others had started arguing. Apparently, Heiji wanted to take a risk and go back to the house. Hakuba was of the opinion that they should stay put and let it pass. After all, what could they do even if they got back? Ran was torn between her own desire to head back to try and help out and the desire to support the blond detective who she had rather fond feelings for. But though none of them mentioned it, Shinichi could hear the hint of fear and uncertainty beneath their heated words. It sent a pang through his chest.

These people had accepted him and Kaito up until now despite their powers and their past. But the incident on the old Wraith island had shaken them. Frankly, seeing Kaito like that had shaken Shinichi too, but they had gotten over it because they were good people, and they had called them their friends. Shinichi was more grateful to them for that simple fact than they would ever know. But now, seeing their very home warping around them not for self defense or even some fit of temper but just because Kaito had caught an ordinary cold… It was little wonder that they were afraid.

What would they think of Kaito after this?

The papers whirled faster.

"Magic draws power from emotion," Shinichi murmured, watching the papers whirl and whirl. Then, on a whim, he stood and reached out a hand towards one of the smaller flocks—one comprised of post-it-notes. The flapping yellow notes fluttered to him, spinning around and around his head, making him look like a cartoon character who had just been knocked silly by a blow to the head. But then, slowly, their flittering calmed and, one by one, they landed. Some perched on his shoulders, others nestled in his hair. The rest slid into pockets or simply fell to the floor like autumn leaves.

Heiji whistled. "Did you make that happen?"

"No—yes. I mean, sort of."

"Well that narrows things down, doesn't it?"

"Sarcasm isn't going to help," Ran chided. "Shinichi?"

"I guess you can think about this as an immune system reaction," he said, trying to sound more sure than he really was. In all honesty, he was only guessing. But saying so would likely only make the others worry more. It would served no constructive purpose. "A defense mechanism triggered by a magician being sick. The magic kind of spreads out and…well, deals with potential threats, I suppose."

"That does not explain the papers—or why we were attacked at your house," Hakuba pointed out.

Shinichi bit back the urge to sigh. "It's not as straight forward as that. Magic is just magic. It's not like it thinks. It doesn't operate on logic and reason. Like I said, it reacts to emotion—Kaito's emotions, mainly, but I think ours influences it too." He pulled a sticky note out of his hair and held it up for emphasis. "Just now, I focused on calming myself, and the papers responded."

"So you're saying we can make all this stop just by being calm?" Heiji didn't bother trying to hide how dubious the concept sounded to him.

"No," Shinichi said bluntly. "But I think we might be able to ameliorate the situation in the areas immediately around us that way. At least while we're so far away from Kaito. It's like how being around calm people makes it easier to be calm yourself. But it will likely be different when we're closer."

"Well that makes sense to me," Ran decided. The detectives in the room were less convinced, but as neither of them had the knowledge with which to even make a hypothesis, they chose not to argue.

Hakuba heaved a sigh that was two parts exasperation and one part resignation. "I assume we will be going back then. But I ask again, will it really make a difference if we go?"

"I have to go," Shinichi insisted. "I have to let him know that I'm all right or things will only get worse."

"We better hurry up then," Heiji cut in. "But I do have one more question before we go. That thing that happened with the soup bowl and the tray. When it just got vaporized. That…doesn't happen to people, does it?"

Shinichi looked down. "Only if you get too close," he said, wishing he could say otherwise but unwilling to fudge the truth. "I should be able to warn you if it is about to become dangerous to move closer. If you still want to go, I mean. Otherwise, you should be fine as long as you have no ill intentions."

Feeling he should give them some time to think things over without his presence, Shinichi asked Ran to direct him to the restroom. He retreated into it and busied himself with examining the bump he'd gotten to the head. The bruising was painful, but it was nothing serious.

Upon returning to the living room, he was surprised to find the others all rummaging about the apartment's kitchen. As he arrived, Hattori rose from an open drawer with a whoop of triumph.

"This one's nice and long." He turned to Ran, holding up the oversized ladle he had unearthed. "Would you mind losing it?"

The girl glanced the appliance over then shrugged. "I've never used it, so it should be fine. I think I'll take the broom. We should be getting a new one soon anyway. The bristles have started falling out."

"May I borrow this?" Hakuba presented the girl with a large spatula. "I will replace it if it is lost."

"All right."

"What are you doing?" Shinichi asked, looking from one household appliance to the next in confusion.

Hattori flashed him a broad grin. "It's just a precaution. We figure if we hold something out in front of us, it'll get vaporized before we do if we get too close to a danger zone. I know you said you'd know, but a backup plan doesn't hurt."

"Oh." Shinichi blinked, wondering if it would be inappropriate to laugh. "I guess that makes sense. You should also look out for sparks and air that seems to be shimmering or crackling like there is electricity running through it. Avoid those no matter what."

"Got it. What about you? I saw a couple other ladles in there, just none as big as this one."

"Er, no, but thank you."

"Suit yourself. So, is everyone ready?" Laying his giant ladle over his shoulder, the dark-skinned detective surveyed his 'troops'. Seeing that everyone but Shinichi was armed, he strode over to the door and slipped on his shoes. "We'll head out then. I'll walk in the lead with Shinichi. Ran, you should walk behind us. That way, you can give us directions if we need 'em. Hakuba can take the rear. Agreed?"

"Considering calmness is going to be a key factor in this expedition, I would recommend that you and I switch places," Hakuba replied, tone dry. "Your volatile temper should stay at the back."

Hattori scowled. "Fine. Whatever."

Hakuba opened his mouth then shut it again. He hadn't expected Hattori to agree with him, let alone go along with his plans without an argument. Pulling himself back together with an effort, he stepped past Hattori to open the door.

The stairwell outside was so ordinary that all four of them halted in their tracks to stare. But soon they were venturing out and down the familiar steps and out into the totally unfamiliar street.

When they asked each other later, none of them could describe with any certainty what the texture of the ground beneath their feet had been. The street itself seesawed between the warped landscape they had glimpsed through the Mouris' window and the mundane city street it was supposed to be.

Despite the eerie atmosphere and the stifling silence, which none of them had expected, the walk through the city back to the Kuroba household wasn't as harrowing an experience as they had all anticipated. It felt almost like walking through a funhouse or a haunted house without any sound.

Large, white and black shapes billowed up and drifted by only to flutter and melt away again at random moments. The streets felt wrong underfoot, but they didn't warp people into other places or suddenly decide to become walls.

They were halfway to their destination when they saw the first humans they had laid eyes on since leaving Ran's apartment. There were a group of them, mostly teenagers, screaming and hitting things that looked an awful lot like coffee tables and café chairs. The furniture was crawling at the teens, for what purpose, the teens clearly were not going to wait to find out as they kicked and kicked and, in one young man's case, bashed at the furniture with a baseball bat. Shinichi and the others paused for a moment to stare at the bizarre battle. But as the people involved were only scared, not hurt, they moved on.

Another block down the street, however, a man stepped out of a jewelry shop which had been left open when its occupants fled in search of sanity. He had a smug grin on his face and necklaces and other trinkets spilling out of his pockets.

Hakuba made a mental note of the young man's physical characteristics and was about to confront him when one of those half substantial white ghost like figures rose up behind the thief. Then it leaned forward, enfolding him in the billows of its white body. Everything happened in complete silence and so fast that none of them would have seen anything if they hadn't been watching. But when the white shadow unfolded and faded away, the thief was gone. Not a trace of him was left. Well, except for the trinkets he had stolen. Those now lay in a glittering pile on the featureless, white street.

Ran's breath caught in her throat as she took an involuntary step back. Four, black spikes shot up out of the ground all around her, and suddenly Ran's shock turned to fear.

"What happened to that guy?" she demanded, voice sounding weak even to her own ears.

"You need to calm down," Shinichi said urgently.

"B—but he just—that thing…"

"It reacted to his greed. There's nothing we can do for him," he insisted. "You have to calm down."

"O—oh. I—I'm sorry."

Closing her eyes, Ran drew in a deep breath. Slowly, the odd, black spires circling her like the dorsal fins of waiting sharks sank back into the earth and vanished.

It was a grim procession that continued onward, now wary of looking too hard at any of the floating, black and white phantoms as their imaginations conjured terrors with which to fill them. By the time they reached the Kuroba residence, they were all about ready to snap. The sight of the building didn't help.

Where before, the odd, golden light that had suffused the air in Kaito's room had been limited to that room, it now wrapped all the way around the house like an energy field. Crackles of electricity swept at random across its surface, threatening to lash out at anyone or anything that drew too close. The very air itself was heavy and humming with power.

Ran, being the one with the longest weapon, hefted her broom and extended it towards the light. The instant the bristles touched the golden glow, they dissolved, falling away in wisps of white ash that were caught and whipped away by the breeze. She drew back the broom-turned-pole and tried to smile. "I guess this is where we have to stop?"

"I'll go alone from here," said Shinichi. "When the haze dissipates, you guys can come in."

"Are you sure?" asked Heiji.

Shinichi smiled. "I'm sure. Kaito won't hurt me. I just need to let him know that I'm here and that I'm safe."

"Sounds too easy. But if you say so then I guess that's what we have to do. Just…if something goes wrong, scream, and we'll come try and rescue ya."

"Or get vaporized trying?" Hakuba asked dryly.

Shinichi didn't answer. He had no intention of calling for help even if something went wrong because, where he knew Kaito wouldn't hurt him, he also knew that the same could not be said for the others. In this state of mind, Kaito could very easily decide that the others were a threat and deal with them accordingly.

Bracing himself, Shinichi opened the door and stepped into the front hall.

Instantly, that overwhelming power washed over him again, filling him, trapping him—probing his very soul, it seemed. He didn't even hear the door shut behind him. He took deep breaths and waited, focusing on a single memory. A memory of a night an eternity ago. Of two boys in a locked room, looking at a night sky full of stars that were all their own.

That memory, one of the most precious memories he had from a time in their lives when precious things were rare and precious memories even more so, filled him with a sense of wonder and peace even now. But more than that, it was a reminder that they would always be themselves as long as they had each other to remind them when they were lost.

When Shinichi opened his eyes again, the crackling, golden haze that had filled the house earlier was now a soft blue glow filled with phantom stars. They hung, serene and beautiful—peace made visible.

Smiling, he gave himself a moment to just relax and take in the sudden sensation of deep, calm eternity before he opened the door again.

He was met by three determined faces. They had all tensed when the door swung in, assorted household appliances rising to ready position as they prepared to invade the house. Not a single one of them made a move to back away. That fact, tiny as it was, brought a lump to Shinichi's throat which he quickly.

"It's safe to come in now," he said softly. "Just remember to stay calm."

The three traded glances before Hattori stepped forward. As nothing happened, he proceeded into the house, followed shortly by the others. A few minutes later, all three were seated in the living room, gazing in awe at the starry night glittering all around them. Warmed by their wonder, Shinichi left to collect a glass of warm water from the kitchen. He paused only a moment at the sight of Hakuba's textbooks stacked neatly in the open cupboards, the tableware spread across the table in their stead, and the pot of chicken soup, now full again, perched on top of the refrigerator.

Walking up the stairs was like ascending into the night sky. The translucent, blue glow softened the edges of the world as though reality itself was wearing thin. Only the stars were clear, bright and sharp yet warm with promise.

He stopped by the bathroom for a small towel, which he soaked then wrung out. He found Kaito fast asleep like he had been before everything had gone ballistic. Setting the water down on the corner of the desk next to the empty glass already there, Shinichi used the damp towel to gently wipe the sweat from Kaito's face and neck. The magician stirred but didn't wake. Despite that, Shinichi could feel the air growing lighter, and he knew that Kaito knew he was there.

The tight knot of tension in Shinichi's stomach relaxed to be replaced by a sense of peace. He knew he should be going back downstairs to see to their guests, but, instead, he found himself picking up the book he had left on the table last night before this had all begun and sitting down on the bed next to Kaito. It was just for a little while, he told himself. The others would understand. That thought gave him a moment's pause because it was true, and that fact was every bit as wondrous as the magical stars sparkling all around them. Leaning back against his own fluffed up pillows, he opened the book and let the sound of Kaito's even breathing lull him into a peaceful haze of literature and the warmth of homes that could never be lost because they were built of the bonds between hearts rather than any material that could be molded by human hands.

X

To say Kaito was puzzled when he opened his eyes to see Ran peering through the open door of his and Shinichi's bedroom would have been putting it lightly. What was she doing here? And how had she gotten into the house? Where was Shinichi?

That last question eclipsed all the others, but only for a split second as he sensed the soft, warm presence beside him. He looked down to see Shinichi curled up around a book on the bed beside him. Relaxing, he traced a finger over the curve of the sleeping oracle's cheek before looking back up at Ran.

"Your mom and I made dinner," she said softly, a wary but hopeful smile on her face. "Would you two like to come eat?"

Kaito stared at her. There was nothing unusual about her question, except he had never expected to hear such questions from anyone other than Shinichi and his mother. Hearing it from this girl they had known for less than a year now was surreal.

As the silence dragged on, Ran's smile faltered then faded. "If you don't feel like it…"

"We'll be down in a minute," Kaito cut in before she could figure out how to finish her statement. He was surprised at his own satisfaction when her smile returned. She nodded and excused herself, shutting the door behind her.

Kaito blinked, gaze growing thoughtful.

The sun rose on the following morning to a world that was splendid in its normalcy. Relieved and ready to put the whole previous day behind him, Shinichi bid Chikage goodbye as she left for work then cleaned up the breakfast dishes. Then he heated some milk in a pot and made two large mugs of hot chocolate. Steaming beverages in hand, he made his way carefully up the stairs and into their room.

"I was thinking about leaving."

Shinichi nearly dropped both mugs at Kaito's sudden declaration. "Leaving?"

"Don't worry. I know you wouldn't want to go. You like it here. I guess I wouldn't want to leave either," the magician added as an afterthought. "We've been happy here."

"You say that like you expect things to change." Sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Kaito, Shinichi handed him a hot chocolate.

Kaito took a long swig before replying. "It will, if things continue as they are."

Shinichi bit his lip. Anxiety curled in his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. It should be obvious. The whole city had its face rubbed in a boatload of magic yesterday. It's only a matter of time before someone starts looking for the cause. It would only take one person putting two and two together to get the ball rolling, and if they find me, they'll find you." Levitating both their mugs to his desk, Kaito caught one of Shinichi's hands and twined their fingers together. "We both know what happens when people discover power."

"But that was a different life," Shinichi murmured, though he wasn't sure which one of them he was trying to convince. Kaito's words had struck home.

"It was. But human nature has not changed." Indigo eyes caught Shinichi's, and they were deadly serious. "I will admit that there are people who care. We have seen that. But there will always be those who act only for themselves—those who let greed and the hunger for power drive them. Not to mention those who are controlled by fear. That sort can be even worse."

Shinichi closed his eyes, leaning his head against Kaito's shoulder. He wished he could say that the magician's concerns were exaggerated, but he couldn't. Deep down, he truly believed that there were more good souls out there than rotten ones, but that didn't change the fact that there were villains out there. It would take only one to ruin everything they had built for themselves here. They were only two people in a vast and thriving city. They wouldn't be easy to find. But it had been done before. It would make sense to leave after such a public display. But Kaito had said he didn't plan to. Not yet anyway. That meant he had to have a plan.

He sat up so he could see Kaito's face. "What are you planning to do?"

Kaito smirked. "I'm going to make sure no one remembers what happened today as anything more than a strange dream or mass hallucination."

Shinichi looked dubious. "Can you do that?"

"Won't know until I try. But if this doesn't work, I'm taking you and Mom and getting out of here. I won't let anyone hurt any of us again."

The steel in Kaito's voice sent a shiver up Shinichi's spine. He watched with mild trepidation as Kaito rose and walked over to the desk, but all the magician did was hand him his hot chocolate and begin drinking his own. It wasn't until they had both finished their chocolates that Kaito spoke again.

"I'm going to need your help."

Shinichi nodded. "Just tell me what to do."

X

"Have you guys seen the news?" Ran asked as she joined Hakuba and Hattori in their classroom ten minutes before the start of first period.

"Ya mean the stuff about that secret lab that accidentally released a load of hallucinogenic gas into the city?" the dark-skinned detective asked. Ran nodded, and he shrugged. "It's on every news channel on and offline right now. Not sure what it's going on about though. I mean, all that stuff yesterday was, well, you know."

"I suppose people are trying to explain what happened," Hakuba theorized. "An unknown chemical accident does sound more believable than magic. Although considering how many people were taking photographs and recording videos yesterday, I doubt the story will hold up."

"That's the thing," Ran said. Digging her own phone out of her pocket, she pulled up a video and held it out towards the two detectives. Both gave her puzzled looks before leaning in to watch the images on the screen. Slowly, their expressions morphed from baffled to shocked to incredulous.

"But that can't be right!" Hattori burst out the moment the video ended. Next to him, Hakuba reached over and tapped the repeat button. The video started again. On the screen, a woman flung her handbag away from her. It landed in the middle of the street as cars swerved and people shouted and screamed. Then people were running. A moment later, the camera panned upward to focus on what appeared to be empty sky. Despite the lack of a subject, the screen swept from side to side as though following a moving target. Then the video ended again.

The entire seen was familiar to all three teens. It had been that moment on their journey from the Kuroba house to Ran's apartment when flames had erupted from a woman's purse to do battle with a watery beast from a hydrant. Except, in the video, there was neither fire nor water, just a street of panicking civilians fleeing from a perfectly innocuous handbag.

"That's not the only one either," Ran told them. "All the videos and photos I checked were just like that one."

"What, does magic not show up on film?" Hattori wondered out loud.

"But there's no damage," Hakuba murmured, taking Ran's phone and running a quick search for photos. "Even if the magic did not appear on film, the damage it dealt to the surroundings would."

"But it couldn't have been in our heads," the other detective argued. "It just—_couldn't_."

"It doesn't have to have been," Ran replied. "I mean, remember how all the school windows repaired themselves yesterday?"

"Are you suggesting that Kuroba put everything back to the way it was?" asked Hakuba. "Throughout the entire city?"

"It's the only explanation that makes sense, isn't it?"

The three looked at each other. It was Hattori who eventually broke the pensive silence.

"Man, that's insane," he said, shaking his head. "How would he even know what to fix?"

"Well, he does live with someone who can see the future," Hakuba said dryly. "We know from experience that he can also see the present. It is not much of a stretch to imagine that the past too is available."

"Still…"

"We could always just ask them." Taking her phone back, Ran turned it off. On cue, the teacher walked in, and the murmuring all around the classroom died down.

They headed straight for the Kurobas' house after school. They did a collective double take when it was Kaito who answered the door and not Shinichi. The magician, on the other hand, didn't seem surprised to see them. Though he did give them an intent once over before opening the door wider and stepping aside to let them in.

"Guess that explains the two dozen sandwiches."

Ran wondered what he meant until Shinichi walked into the room carrying a large platter stacked high with neat, triangular sandwiches. He looked tired, but he smiled when he saw them and offered them the sandwiches. Once everyone was seated in the living room, the oracle disappeared back into the kitchen only to return with drinks. Though he hadn't asked them for their preferences, he managed to give them each exactly the drink they would have chosen.

"You have questions," he said when he sat down next to Kaito. The magician took the cup Shinichi handed him with one hand as his other arm settled around the oracle's waist.

Hattori grimaced. "Seriously, it's weird when you just say things like that instead of asking. Kinda kills the conversation."

Shinichi blinked at him. "…I'm sorry?"

"Nah. Just—try to ask next time."

"I'll try."

"Good. So were we right then?"

Shinichi opened his mouth then shut it again. It was Kaito who spoke.

"If you're wondering about yesterday, we fixed what we could. And we expect you to keep mum about what really happened."

Shinichi elbowed him. "He means we would appreciate it if you supported the story."

"We understand," Ran assured them. "We were just curious."

"Yeah. I mean, how'd you manage it?" Hattori asked.

"Shin-chan told me what happened when and where. I fixed the damage then wiped it out of the relevant videos and photos using a resonance spell that you really wouldn't understand." The detectives both twitched at that, but Kaito ignored them. "Then we called the news people as different concerned citizens and told them about this mysterious man's secret lab we'd heard rumors about and how it had been getting unstable, yada yada yada. Then we just fanned the flames a bit."

Hakuba frowned. "I cannot approve of spreading such rumors. There may be repercussions. But I suppose there isn't much else we can do."

Kaito shot the blond a nasty glare, but Shinichi elbowed him again before he could say anything.

The conversation shifted to more mundane topics after that. Shinichi was relieved to see Ran and the others begin to relax. By the time the three got up to leave, the atmosphere between them had become almost normal again.

"We should be back in school by tomorrow," he told them when he saw them to the door.

"That's great," Ran said. "If you need anything though, just call us."

"We will. Thank you."

Shinichi watched the girl's retreating back for a long moment before turning to the two detectives who had lingered at the door. He had a strong suspicion that he knew what they wanted, but he decided to wait and let them speak.

The two traded uneasy glances before Hakuba cleared his throat.

"There was one more thing we need to know," he said.

Shinichi tilted his head slightly to one side in silent inquiry, taking note of the blonde's choice of words.

Hakuba waited a few seconds for him to respond before he cleared his throat again and continued. "That thief we saw vanish outside the jewelry store. What happened to him?"

"He was arrested this morning," the oracle replied. "The jewelry store's security cameras caught his face on tape, and he was found asleep in the park by the police with some of the stolen jewels in his pockets."

The detectives looked at each other again, and Shinichi wondered what they were thinking. He could tell that his answer had taken them by surprise. Perhaps they had expected him to say that the man had died. In truth, Shinichi had been afraid that he had. It was only dumb luck that had spared the man. Kaito had retrieved him from an in-between place where, the magician had explained, things went when being moved great distances by magic. Kaito had also said that, if the man had been left where he'd been for much longer, what they'd retrieved would have been a corpse. Nor had that man been the only one who had had to be rescued. But Shinichi said none of this because it was over. Providing the detectives with those particular details would serve no purpose except to make them even more wary than they already were.

"Guess all's well that ends well," Hattori remarked with a slightly forced laugh. "Anyway, see you guys tomorrow."

Shinichi nodded and bid them farewell again. He stood for a minute after they had gone, gaze fixed on the front door he had just closed as though he could see right through it. He didn't hear Kaito walking up behind him, but he did sense the magician's familiar presence, so it didn't surprise him to feel a pair of strong arms wrap around him from behind.

"I still don't understand why you insist on answering all their questions," Kaito said, warm breaths ghosting past Shinichi's ear. "We don't owe them anything."

Shinichi sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against Kaito's shoulder. "It's not about owing anyone anything. I just…don't want them to be afraid. People fear what they don't understand. But they're trying to understand. It's more than anyone else has ever done for us. The least we can do is answer their questions."

Kaito snorted. "The Wraith wanted to _understand_ too. They would have given their collective right arms to know how you see what you see."

"That's different, and you know it."

It was Kaito's turn to sigh. He knew Shinichi was right—Shinichi usually was. But part of him would always be searching for that snake in the grass. Nothing would change that. He had come too close to losing everything that mattered to allow himself to forget the value of vigilance.

He leaned down to brush a chaste kiss across Shinichi's cheek before releasing him and stepping back. His right hand caught Shinichi's left, twining their fingers together and tugging the oracle towards the kitchen.

"Let's just be glad this is over. We both need to get some sleep."

"I promised Chikage-san that I'd make dinner," Shinichi protested.

"It's not even four yet. We're taking a nap. You can start dinner at five thirty. I'll help."

"It'll take longer if you help," Shinichi said dryly, but he let himself be guided upstairs.

* * *

**Owari**

**A.N**: Sorry this took a while. This fic really wasn't supposed to be this long or this, er, grim. But anyhow, I hope all of you are well. Take care!


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